Separate Ways
by Cover Girl
Summary: Flint's insecurities become too much for Lady Jaye to handle. Will he get his act together or is this their curtain call?
1. Chapter 1

SEPARATE WAYS

Author: Cover Girl

Rating PG-13

Disclaimer: GI Joe and Cobra are the property of Hasbro. This story takes place after Sunbow's episode, NOT A GHOST OF A CHANCE. I am also introducing Jinx earlier than she originally appeared in the cartoon. Major Ron Michaels and Major Frank Sullivan are Sunbow's creations. _Direct lines from the cartoon are italicized._

Thanks to AmyKay for beta reading for me! She's been incredibly patient working with me off and on for the past six months. Chapter 2 is nearly complete so please stay tuned.

_**Chapter One**_

"We'll be fine," Major Frank Sullivan reassured Lady Jaye as she stood with him beside Major Ron Michaels at the back of the ambulance waiting to transport the two pilots to the base hospital. Michaels had broken his leg when the Ghost reconnaissance plane they had been flying made a forced landing on a small, uninhabited island. If it hadn't been for Beach Head, Flint, Lifeline, and Lift Ticket, the two pilots wouldn't have made it back alive.

"_Major Sullivan, could you give us a statement for next week's show?"_ Hector Ramirez of Twenty Questions interrupted them.

"_Why sure… Be glad to talk to you,"_ Sullivan replied.

"Well, Ron, looks like you're gonna be here a little while longer," Lady Jaye said with a smile. She placed her hand tenderly on his shoulder. "He shouldn't be that long. I'm sure Hector…"

"_Excuse me, Lady Jaye. I've got something to settle with Major Michaels."_ Flint postured as he approached them.

"_Flint?"_ Lady Jaye asked cautiously, unsure of what was going on. She had been defending her friendship with Ron to Flint off and on since Hawk assigned her to the mission. Flint's stance wasn't reassuring; in fact, it was troubling.

"_Major, I'd like a word with you about…"_

"_Oh, so you're the Flint Lady Jaye's been tellin' me so much about,"_ Ron interrupted Flint with a friendly but weakening voice.

"_But…"_

"_You're one lucky guy. This lady really loves you. Take care of yourself, Lady Jaye,"_ Ron said as Frank returned to his side.

"_See you in the skies, Ron."_ She waved goodbye to them and turned her attention to Flint. _"Just what was it you were going to tell him, Flint?"_

"_Nothing, Lady Jaye. What I thought I saw wasn't what I saw,"_ he replied, draping his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. Together, they watched Lifeline and one of the other medics load Sullivan and Michaels into the ambulance.

Lifeline looked back at the pair through the windows of the closed doors and inwardly sighed a note of relief. "Thank God, Flint came to his senses." He thought watching Flint pull Lady Jaye around to face him. She had her arms wrapped around Flint's neck when they drove off. That had to be a good sign.

"Are you sure, you're ok?" She gave Flint a quizzical glare. "You seemed intent on talking to Ron about some…"

"It was nothing." He smiled down at her and wondered how he could have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"But…"

"It's been a long day. Why don't you change and we can grab a bite to eat over at Joe's Place? I missed you." He dropped a light kiss on top of her head and tightened his hold around her.

"I missed you, too, but, I've got to get my report finished. Hawk wants all the details in before Ramirez hits the airwaves." She groaned, rocking her head back so her eyes met his. "Trust me, I'd rather be spending time with you…it shouldn't take me that long."

"How about I grab take out---your pick? We can take it back to my quarters," he suggested, giving her a lopsided grin she couldn't resist.

"Oh, you know how to tempt a girl."

"Whatever my lady wants."

"Well, I'll settle for some burgers from Joe's. It's late and, like I said, it shouldn't take me that long to finish up my report."

"I've got to help the others unload the Tomahawk before I check in at the control center." He nodded over to where Lift Ticket stood in the distance. "Call me when you think you're nearly done and I'll run over to Joe's before I meet you," he murmured in her ear.

"Mmm…I like that."

"I think you'll like a few other things better," he teased. "Go on and call me." He kissed her temple just as Lift Ticket approached them.

"Flint, you gonna lend us a hand or what?" The Tomahawk pilot shouted over to them. Flint and Lady Jaye broke apart.

"I'll see you later," she said, leaning up on tiptoes to kiss him before she ran off.

"Everything ok, Flint?" Lift Ticket questioned him once Lady Jaye was out of sight and they began walking towards the Tomahawk's landing area.

"Yeah."

"I take it I was right. You didn't see what you thought you saw? Nothing happened with Michaels?" Lift Ticket continued with a tone that both admonished Flint for his suspicions and made him feel like a complete idiot for jumping to the wrong conclusions.

Flint heaved a heavy sigh. "I had it all wrong. I saw them together and I…"

"Took the whole jealousy thing too far. Do you have any idea how many men would kill to have a woman like her? She only has eyes for you and everyone but you seems to know that. "

Flint closed his eyes and shook his head before facing Lift Ticket again. "I couldn't help it. I thought…"

"Lady Jaye couldn't…wouldn't do that to you." Lift Ticket cut him off. "Give her some credit. Lord knows she takes you for better or worse with that damn jealous streak of yours." He raised his voice but quickly brought it under control. Flint could tell the Tomahawk pilot was more than annoyed with him. "I honestly don't know how she or any woman could take it and if you keep it up she may just decide she's had enough. No one could blame her there. SHE LOVES YOU and you're gonna push her away," he warned.

"You're right," Flint agreed, surprising Lift Ticket.

"If you love her half as much as she loves you, tell her and don't let her forget it. Lifeline mentioned she was upset earlier."

"He did? Did he say why?" Flint pressed anxiously.

"Only that you were jealous again for nothing. Talk to her, Flint. Trust her."

**~~*~~**

"Hey, beautiful, ready?" Flint tapped on Lady Jaye's office door. She was sitting at her desk, reading what appeared to be the last few pages of her report. "Alison?"

"Hmm…oh, sorry, Dash," she answered, "just a minute." She finished and shuffled the papers together before slipping them into a folder. When she looked up to the doorway again, Flint was gone. "Huh?" She heard him chuckle softly and felt his hands on her shoulders, gently kneading them, and groaned, "You have no idea how good that feels."

"Ready?" He slid his hands down to the back of her chair, guiding it out for her.

"I'm all yours, let's go…."

**~~*~~**

"Evenin' Flint, Lady Jaye." Corporal Short was the MP on duty outside the men's barracks. He greeted them with a brisk nod and opened the door for them as they approached. "Lady Jaye, I caught you on Twenty Questions earlier. You looked great on the show."

"Evening, Short, and thanks." Lady Jaye returned as she stepped up to the doorway ahead of Flint carrying the bag from Joe's.

"Are they gonna let you do that show more often, ya think?" Short continued. "It's about time they had someone who gave our side to the news instead of …"

"Thanks, Short," Flint firmly added, reminding him of his presence.

"Ah, Flint. Have a good evening, Lady Jaye." Short remembered his place at the door and stepped away. Lady Jaye sighed and shifted her gaze between Short and Flint.

"Flint, he was just being nice..."

Recalling Lift Ticket's warning, Flint checked himself and softened his expression. "Have a good night, Short. C'mon Lady Jaye, dinner's gettin' cold." He draped his arm loosely, but possessively around her and guided her down the hallway to the stairwell.

"Lady Jaye…Flint," Beach Head greeted them, hardening the sound of Flint's name when he passed them outside Flint's quarters.

"You two get into it, again?" Lady Jaye questioned.

"Nah, you know Beach," he replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, I know him." She laughed. "C'mon, Flint, I'll set the table."

"You just relax. I got it." He opened the door and hit the light for her.

"Ok." She stepped inside the doorway. Looking around she saw his small quarters neat, orderly, and cold. He stayed here when he was on duty so it wasn't as personalized as his apartment in town. Just the basics was all he needed here. He had said time and time again, whenever she wanted she was free to add a little something to make it a little more comfortable, a little more cozy. She walked around the living room area and picked up a picture of them in evening clothes taken aboard the Airtes yacht and smiled to herself. The mission hadn't been a complete loss. They'd managed to foil Cobra's plans for Mr. Airtes, preventing them from gaining control of the Airtes shipping empire. She smiled again recalling the day they spent on the Aegean Sea before returning State side.

"I wish we could have gone back to my apartment or to your place," Flint called out from the kitchenette.

"No can do, you've got duty in the morning and Duke's at my place with Scarlett, remember?" She sighed a note of regret and walked into the kitchenette. Her apartment was cozy. She and Scarlett had both opted to live on base and personalized their suite with pictures of friends and family as well as a menagerie of knick-knacks. They didn't see the need for maintaining two places. "Need some help?" She watched him pull two Yo Joe cola's out of the refrigerator and set them on the table.

"Why don't you see if there's a movie on the TV or something?" He asked over his shoulder while pulling down a couple of plates from the cabinet.

"Sure, how about I pull out a couple a blankets and pillows? We can camp out in the living room," she added, seductively lowering her voice. His response was a devilish, lop-sided grin.

**~~*~~**

"What time is it?" Lady Jaye groaned, burying her head under her pillow to drown out the music playing from the clock's alarm.

"Quarter to 5, I've got to be in the command center in a few minutes," Flint answered, flipping the alarm off.

Lady Jaye heaved a heavy sigh and drew her head out to look up at him. "So much for pleasant dreams." She pouted and rolled over, raising herself up on her elbow to face him better.

With her hair all mussed up and her heavy eyes, Flint felt a raw urge to crawl back into bed with her but couldn't. Instead he drew a determined breath and sat down beside her. "Allie, honey, I've been wanting to ask you something."

"Mmm…" She sat up, loosely holding a blanket to her.

"I've been thinking," he stammered. "Um, my place is a lot bigger and we've been together for …I was wondering if…would you move in with me?"

"Move in with you? You mean live with you?" She asked, unsure she heard correctly.

"I was just thinking---"

"Yes!" She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I mean…are you sure? This is…"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He grinned back, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her closer. She could feel his chest shudder a sigh of relief. "I've got a key for you on my dresser. I've never done this before…"

She laughed. "It's ok. I promise I won't redecorate it without you."

"I love you." He cradled her face in his hands.

"I love you, too." She kissed him again and watched him leave. She heard the lock click and fell back against her pillow. Drawing a long, deep breath, she slowly exhaled. She felt a sense of exhilaration and happiness that overwhelmed her to the point that she couldn't contain it. She had to get dressed and tell Scarlett.

**~~*~~**

"Look at her." Cover Girl groaned and nodded towards Lady Jaye as she slipped into her seat opposite Scarlett in the Mess.

"Somebody didn't come home last night," Scarlett snickered.

"I'm surprised you noticed being as how you were entertaining," Lady Jaye shot back.

"You two and your boyfriends…ugh…" Jinx quipped taking a seat across from Cover Girl. "Now, I know why Flint was in such a good mood this morning. Must have been some night, huh, Jaye," she added in a saucy tone as Lady Jaye took a sip of her juice. Cover Girl and Scarlett both laughed as Lady Jaye began to choke on her drink and Jinx pounded her back.

"Jinx…" Lady Jaye groaned on recovering her breath.

"Well, you should have seen him when he came in the control room this morning. Usually, he's a little grumpy, barking off orders and calling for status checks when he comes in."

"Probably because you and Dialtone are gaming on the main console," Cover Girl said, rolling her eyes.

"That only happened one time, Greaser. Besides we had to listen to Beach Head bitching before he came in about Flint and… OW…" Jinx yelped, feeling the sting of Cover Girl's boot kicking her in the shin to stop.

"Flint and what?" Lady Jaye asked, turning to face Jinx. Cover Girl kicked Jinx again.

"Nothing," Jinx replied, earning a fixed glare from Lady Jaye. "You know how Beach Head likes to gripe about being third."

Lady Jaye breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Well, it looks like he may have something new to bitch about soon."

"What now?" The other three women pressed.

"Nothing much except…" Lady Jaye pulled the key from her pocket and placed it on the table in front of her as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Flint asked me to move in with him off base."

"Oh, my God!" Cover Girl and Jinx replied in unison, drawing a few stares to their table.

"That's wonderful," Scarlett congratulated her with a bright smile. "Now, I won't have to kick you out."

"Gee, thanks, Red." Lady Jaye rolled her eyes as her pager went off. "Hawk's paging me, I've got to run. I guess he's read my report."

The three women watched her leave and waited while a group of Joes walked past them.

"Jinx, are you out of your mind! What were you thinking? Everyone, except her, knows Beach Head was going on and on about Flint's jealousy last night," Cover Girl chastised Jinx while a new group was entering.

"Hey, I caught myself, didn't I?"

"What happened now?" Scarlett huffed.

"Same old stuff. Jaye's nice to some guy and Flint wants to kill him." Jinx snerked.

"Who this time?" Scarlett asked then paused, recalling walking into her suite she shared with Lady Jaye and finding her and Ron talking about a wall paper party. "Ron Michaels?" She looked to Jinx as Cover Girl looked down at the table with her forehead in her hand both unaware that Lady Jaye was walking up on the table.

"Lift Ticket and Lifeline both said Flint was ready to go after Michaels when he was in the chopper coming back because he was messing around with Lady Jaye. Flint thought she was cheating on him…" Cover Girl explained.

"HE WHAT?" Lady Jaye snapped, her eyes full of a mixture of hurt and anger.

"Uh…Lady Jaye, I didn't see you," Cover Girl stammered.

"Obviously, I forgot the key. What did you say Flint did?" Lady Jaye pushed, enunciating each word while she retrieved the key from the table.

"Jaye…Alison, it's Flint. You know he has a jealous streak," Scarlett attempted to reason. Lady Jaye turned sharply on her heel and left the Mess.

"Oh shit, you really did it now, Greaser. She's pissed." Jinx gulped, watching the wake of Lady Jaye storming out of the Mess.


	2. Chapter 2

Separate Ways

Author: Cover Girl

Rating PG-13 for adult themes and situations

Disclaimer: GI Joe and Cobra are the property of Hasbro and in this case Sunbow. The aftermath of Not a Ghost of a Chance continues…

Thanks to AmyKay for beta reading for me!

_**Chapter Two**_

"Hey, where's the fire?" Shipwreck dodged out of Lady Jaye's path.

"Stow it, Shipwreck!" she snapped without glancing back over her shoulder. She had to report to Hawk first, and then she would deal with Flint. She wondered how he could be so blind. What had she done to make him think so little of her? When had she ever given him a reason to doubt her love for him? Each question ate away at her. As she walked, she squeezed the key more tightly in her fist until she could feel its teeth biting into her palm through her work gloves. "Damn him," she hissed, fighting back tears that threatened to erupt. She blindly turned a corner and collided into Duke.

"Oof! Lady Jaye!" Duke exclaimed, catching her by the shoulders when she bounced back from him. The key fell from her palm, clanging to the floor. Duke helped her to right herself and retrieved the key. "You wanna watch where you're running…" He noticed the glassiness of her eyes and paused. Taking in their surroundings, he saw Mainframe and Dialtone coming up the hall behind them and pulled her out of their sight. He waited, allowing them to pass before continuing. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

"Bull. You've been crying. What's wrong?"

"I haven't been cry…ing." She hiccupped, fighting for control. "I have to get to Hawk's office. Can I have the key, please?" She choked, presenting her palm open and up for the key. She waited. "Duke?"

He grumbled under his breath. "My office, now." He held her by her upper arm and pulled her down the corridor a short distance to his office and slammed the door. "You can't go into Hawk's office like this. What's going on?" he asked one last time, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk while he sat on the edge of his desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Duke, Hawk's waiting," she replied but collapsed into the chair at the sight of him uncrossing his arms and reaching for the phone on his desk.

"Tell Hawk, Lady Jaye's in my office and will be down shortly." Duke nodded, listening to Hawk's secretary. "All right, I'll tell her." He hung up and fixed his cool blue eyes on her. "He figured out what he needed from the report after he paged you. But, he did ask the status of your re-enlistment papers. I'm going through the re-ups now. But, we'll talk re-enlistment later. Look, I'm gonna ask you one last time, what's going on?"

"It's personal and doesn't concern the team," she replied with a steady gaze, slipping into her actress mode. She prepared to rise only to be blocked by his hand shoving her back to her seat.

"Do you want me to call Flint?" He saw the fire in her eyes flare and watched her regain control. He had hit a nerve and settled back away from her. "Did the two of you have a fight?"

"A fight?" She nearly laughed. "Gee, let's see. Apparently, I'm running around with another man. I'd love to know when the hell I'd have time for that. Instead of asking me, he goes off stalking unsuspecting…"

"Damn. I warned him about his jealous streak," Duke groused, ruffling the back of his head with his hand. "Dash doesn't think straight around you sometimes. He doesn't…"

"You're defending him?" she asked incredulously, anger edging her words.

"Hell, no! I told him he was being an ass back when that special agent showed up." He watched her eyes widen. "Christ… Alison…"

She stared at him in a moment of disbelief and shook her head before resting it in her hands. Duke watched her massage her temples as if she could somehow erase her growing frustration. "I can't deal with this…with him, right now. I need to think."

He allowed her to rise from the chair and leaned back. "We need to go over your re-enlistment package."

"Duke…"

"Go on. If it's any consolation, I know how he feels about you."

"Really, you know? Ok, they tell me WHY? Why doesn't he trust me? What did I do? Huh?" she railed back, raising her voice with each question.

"Alison, he's got a jealous streak when it comes to you. You know that…"

"No, Duke, I thought he'd gotten past that…that we'd gotten past that," she interrupted, fumbling with the key in her hand. "I've got to go. I need time to think about a few things."

He watched her retreat for the door and called over to her. "Your papers are due the end of the month. Hawk wants…"

"Not now, Duke. I've got the rest of the day off and need to get out of here." She cut him off as she pulled the door open and hesitated. "Duke…never mind."

"The door's open if you need to talk."

"Yeah, thanks." She pulled the door closed behind her and sank back against it for a moment, shaking her head. "Things were going so well."

Duke stared at the closed door. "Sonava…damn." He hissed through his teeth and snatched up the phone. "Flint, my office when you're finished.

**~~*~~­**

"FOOLS!" Serpentor roared from his throne above the COBRA agents assembled. The Baroness, Destro, Mindbender, Cobra Commander, Major Bludd and the Crimson Twins all knelt before him with their heads bowed down to the floor. They had been assembled to review Hector Ramirez's report and waited anxiously for Serpentor to release them from his summons. Their legs were numb below the knees from waiting. Zartan leaned back with his arms folded across his chest, watching. His expression was one of controlled humor at the view before him.

"You allowed GI Joe this victory! You allowed them to make FOOLS of all of US!" Serpentor snarled, flinging his staff wide. Those who were peeking cringed at the ominous glowing eyes of the cobra atop his staff. He fired a laser from the open mouth of the staff towards the monitor opposite them. The laser struck the monitor, sending a fiery explosion erupting over the kneeling agents heads and sending them sprawling to their stomachs, shielding their heads protectively from the flying debris.

"You and your incompetence brought this upon us…" He continued, waving his staff over the room. "You have single handedly given GI Joe the means to spy on us with the Ghost and made FOOLS of us to world. How do you presume to rectify your incompetence?" he queried. No one answered. Raising his staff again he swung his arm wide, flaring his cape as he surveyed those assembled with the intent of making an example of one to all before him.

"My lord, I humbly offer my services," Zartan interrupted, stepping away from the wall and crossing over the Cobra agents cowering before their emperor.

"A mercenary offers his services to rectify YOUR mistakes?" Serpentor spat over them. "Tell me, Zartan, how do you propose to handle GI Joe?"

Bowing to one knee, Zartan raised his eyes towards the Cobra Emperor. "The ghost is but a Trojan horse in the scheme of things," he began, gaining Serpentor's attention. "If we gain possession of those who created it, we can find its Achilles heel and develop one superior to the Joe's."

"Intriguing," Serpentor replied pensively, gaining an audible sigh of relief from someone cowering in the room. "Now, why didn't any of you think of this?" Cautiously Mindbender raised his head and grasped the end of his own cape, subconsciously gathering his courage and voice to speak. "Speak MINDBENDER!"

The mad scientist shook with fear and fumbled to recover his monocle. "Most glorious Serpentor, we can do as Zartan has said if you give us a ch…opportunity to please you," Mindbender stammered, attempting to pacify the emperor's rage. Serpentor inhaled a deep breath and sat back on his throne as Mindbender slowly rose to his feet. "If we were able to gather the scientists who developed the ghost prototype, we could easily incorporate their technology into our Night Raven's. The Joe pilots are no match for our superior Strato Vipers," Mindbender continued. "We can regain the upper hand on the Joes, noble Serpentor."

"Hmm." Serpentor drew a contemplative breath and paused while he scanned the throne room, formulating a plan.

**~~*~~­**

"Look, Phil, I can't spare her," Hawk replied, settling back in his chair. He tossed Lady Jaye's file on his desk and spun his back to the door. "Yeah, well, you can try all you want. Lady Jaye is an essential member of this team…You're not getting her back." He snorted. "Be my guest, call the Secretary… Her cover was not blown by her appearance on the show…Her family is well aware of her presence on this team…You're grasping at straws, Phil…"

Duke paused in the doorway with a bundle of files under his arm, waiting to be acknowledged as he watched the General's heated conversation with a quirked eyebrow to the General's back. He quickly cleared any visible expression at the sight of Hawk slowly turning in his direction. Hawk waved him forward and motioned to the chair opposite his desk.

"Phil, it's not happening." Hawk stretched his arm out to check his watch, noting the time. "I have a flight to catch. We can discuss this later…Goodbye Phil…" Hawk dropped the phone in the cradle and sighed heavily. "You would think there was a shortage of covert ops agents on the payroll," he complained.

"I take it that was Assistant Director Collingsworth from the Defense Intelligence Agency?" Duke speculated, taking the seat opposite Hawk who harrumphed. "Wasn't Lady Jaye assigned to his unit before she transferred into Joe?"

"One of his units and if you had heard Phil, he swears I stole her," Hawk replied with a note of sarcasm. "Phil has so many covert teams in play I don't think he knows who he has where half the time. He's lost one of his female agents and wants to 'borrow' Lady Jaye. I told him we couldn't spare her but he's persistent. I'll give him that. Do you have the last of the field reports in from the team leaders? I have to leave for a briefing in DC within the hour."

"Right here, Sir, everything's in order." Duke passed the files across his desk. "The mission logs are complete; everything we discussed in the debriefing is detailed."

"Good, then, I'm off for my meeting," Hawk stated, gathering his uniform's jacket and picking up the files. "Where's Lady Jaye by the way?"

"She...um…has the rest of the day off. I can have her paged, Sir. "

"No, she's earned it…Phil was pretty desperate on the phone. If he calls looking for her directly through the office, tell him she's on leave. I learned a long time ago not to put anything past him," he added thinking back to his days at West Point and their war games; he smirked. "I'll deal with Phil."

**~~*~~­**

Lady Jaye sat teary eyed with crossed legs on her bed, flipping through an album of photographs in her lap and a box of tissues beside her, oblivious to Scarlett standing in the doorway.

"Ya know, hon, ya might just want to try talking to him," Scarlett suggested as she entered Lady Jaye's room, stepping over half-filled boxes of Lady Jaye's personal stuff she'd started packing before breakfast.

"Talk to him? Did he bother to ask me anything?" She sniffed, closing the album shut before she crawled off the bed to replace it on a shelf. She sniffled and snatched up a tissue from the tissue box on the bed to blow her nose. "I'm un..packing…" She hiccupped. "I can't move in with someone who doesn't trust me."

"You can't sit up here and cry all day. Wanna go to the gym and kick the bag a few times?" Scarlett nudged her and winked slyly. "We can paste his picture on the bag and you can pretend you're kicking him in the--"

"And you call me devious, Scarlett?" Cover Girl interrupted, hanging in the doorway. "C'mon Lady Jaye, I got the rest of the day off…."

"So do I!" Jinx chirped in from the doorway.

"Do you mind?" Cover Girl rolled her eyes.

"Well, you said she needed a girl's night out."

"Look, I said…"

"Enough you two," Scarlett jumped in to play referee.

"I'm not really up to going out, girls," Lady Jaye interrupted, "but thanks."

"I beg to differ on that one and while I hate to admit it. You need to get out of here and blow off some steam if you're not going to talk to him."

"What? You didn't talk to him?" Cover Girl asked incredulously.

"That's not good," Jinx added.

"Look, he's on duty," Lady Jaye countered to avoid further discussion.

"Excuses," the three female Joes said in unison.

"You can talk to him, ignore him, dump him," Cover Girl listed off her options and paused at the distasteful reaction Lady Jaye gave her at the suggestion of dumping Flint, "or say to hell with him tonight and deal with him tomorrow. 'Sides, it'll teach him a lesson if you ask me if you actually go out with us and have some fun at the clubs. He doesn't own you, does he?" Cover Girl taunted, knowing it would raise her ire. "I mean-- I don't see a ring. It's not like you're married to the dumbass or anything."

"Well, she is moving in with him," Jinx interjected and ducked at Cover Girl raising her arm to hit her only to run thwack into Scarlett slapping her upside the head.

"Jinx, will you quit?" Scarlett hissed.

"Rookie abuse," Jinx muttered, rubbing the side of her head.

"Hmmm…that remains to be seen Jinx. You know I could use a night out," Lady Jaye smirked and walked to her closet. "Now, what to wear?" She eyed her closet's

contents with an impish smile and began rummaging through for something special. She tossed a black leather skirt on the bed and began looking for a top and accessories while the girls shot glances back and forth between themselves. Their eyes widened as she pulled out a camisole and sheer top to go with it. She saw the girls were gawking and paused. "Are we going or not?"

"Ummm…you…um aren't gonna let Flint see you wearing ah…that are you?"

"Well, why not, it's not like how did you say, he owns me now is it?" She winked, plucking out a pair of four-inch heels and nylons.

The three women stared at her a moment and then started laughing out loud. "Oh man, he's never gonna see this one coming…" Cover Girl finally said as the laughter abated.

"Nope, he's gonna have to learn the difference the hard way," Lady Jaye added walking over to her dresser to grab her makeup case. "Let's grab dinner in town. I can be ready in 30 minutes."

"So, we're going right past the guys going into dinner?" Scarlett asked, wide eyed.

"Now that's devious," Jinx said, nodding approvingly.


End file.
